Transmaterial: pixelskin01

PixelSkin01

Developed by Sachin Anshuman of Orangevoid, PixelSkin01 is an intelligent cladding system intended to bring information display technology to light transmitting building facades. Conventional visual communication, such as advertising, obscures light and views for building occupants when applied to the facade and is at odds with the needs of the users. PixelSkin01 attempts to offer a solution via a heterogeneous smart surface that is translucent in its typical state but transforms into either a transparent state or a full-color video screen when desired. The system consists of a combination of electrochromic glass and ultra-bright electroluminescent tubes controlled by a distributed network of microcomputers and sensor consoles.

As a user approaches the surface, integrated sensors turn to transparent the default translucent state of the closest cluster of disks. The diameter of this transparent field is dynamically adjusted according to a variety of environmental parameters. When visual communication is desired—typically after working hours or when a potential customer approaches a retail window, for example—colored light is emitted by RGB electroluminescent tubes at the perimeter of each disk, and each module is treated a pixel within a larger image field.